There is some confusion regarding the exact circumstances surrounding the creation of Panon by Nakayama Shiyouzou, but it's clear that the
first Panon camera was introduced in 1952. In 1958, models using 120 film were dropped in favor of those using 35mm film, but the newly
created company, 'Panox', took over manufacturing of the 120 film cameras. Panon reintroduced 120 film cameras in 1990 under the brand name
Widelux, but by 2005 the company had gone out of business.